Top Energy Adviser Says Donald Trump Is Solidly Behind Fracking

DENVER— Donald Trump’s top energy adviser on Tuesday sought to play down the GOP presidential candidate’s recent comments that he could support local efforts to ban hydraulic fracturing.

Oil man Harold Hamm said in an interview that Mr. Trump didn’t fully understand a recent question about whether he supported local bans on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and that the Republican nominee was a strong supporter of the industry.

“Donald Trump did not understand that concept at the time in my opinion,” said Mr. Hamm, the chief executive of Continental Resources Inc., in an interview on the sidelines of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s annual conference.

“He does now,” Mr. Hamm added.

Mr. Trump said in a July interview with a Colorado television station that he could support local efforts to ban fracking. Energy companies have used the extraction technology—which involves pumping large amounts of water and chemicals into rock formations—prolifically over the last decade to unlock vast reserves of oil and natural gas. But it has riled environmentalists, who worry it could contaminate water supplies.

“Well, I’m in favor of fracking, but I think that voters should have a big say in it,” Mr. Trump said to 9NEWS in Colorado. “If a municipality or state wants to ban fracking, I can understand it.”

Mr. Hamm said he hasn’t spoken to Mr. Trump about the comments, but emphasized that he is confident the GOP nominee doesn’t support local bans on fracking. A request for comment to the Trump campaign wasn’t immediately returned Tuesday.

Colorado is ground zero in the national fight over fracking. Grassroots organizers are seeking to get two initiatives on the state’s fall ballot that would likely significantly restrict-—some say ban outright—oil and natural gas development in the state, one of the U.S.’s biggest producers of both oil and gas.

A decision is expected as soon as this week from Colorado’s secretary of state on whether the organizers submitted enough valid signatures to place the measures on the ballot.

The energy industry universally opposes efforts to ban the practice anywhere, as do nearly all of its GOP allies in Washington.

Mr. Hamm said the nominee got caught up in the term “local control,” which is a phrase some organizers of initiatives to limit oil and gas activity use to mean giving local municipalities and others more control over what kind of development can occur within their borders.

“I think he was pulled into that with the term local control, which is a magnet for Republican thoughts,” Mr. Hamm said.

In a speech at the conference, Mr. Hamm sought to assuage the industry crowd that the Republican presidential nominee supported the sector.

“Donald Trump is pro-business. He is pro-energy and he is not going to shut down fracking or drilling or anything else,” said Mr. Hamm. “He is for this industry 100%.”